


Seven Hours in the Air

by Inphinity



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Angst, Barnum finally gets a taste of his own medicine, Family, Friendship, Funny, Hurt/Comfort, I'm bad at endings..., P. T. Barnum Needs a Hug, P. T. Barnum Whump, Revenge, Sickness, Trapeze, lighthearted whump, tgs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 10:41:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14353803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inphinity/pseuds/Inphinity
Summary: When Barnum ran away with Jenny Lind, it hurt his wife, his best friend, and his entire circus family.Months have passed and everything is okay again, but those bitter feelings never go away. The circus troops come up with a quirky prank to make their ringleader understand how he made them feel.





	Seven Hours in the Air

**Author's Note:**

> Hey dudes <3  
> If you can't already tell....I love making Barnum suffer. Hurt/comfort is my JAM.  
> Please leave me some comments! I'd love to know what you think of this, and also to hear any fic concepts you think might be nice to see. 
> 
> Sorry for the kinda limp ending, it's 2am lol.
> 
> Word count: 5411  
> TW: Vomit, heights, humiliation

\--  
10:18 am

“Alright, alright. Very funny.”

Laughter erupted bellow as Barnum hung from Anne’s acrobatics ring 50ft in the air. He couldn’t believe he’d fallen for that trick, Anne had asked him to check that the bolts connecting the ring to it’s wire were secure, the next thing he knew he’d been hoisted right up into the sky.

He waited a little while for the laughter to die down, struggling to get his leg up into the hoop so that he could sit in it instead of dangle precariously. Once he was safely perched, the showman stared down at the group of acts on the ground watching him in delight. Raising an eyebrow, he noticed that W.D had been the one to hoist the rope up, he could spot Lettie and Charles perched over in the bleachers. He even spotted Phillip loitering in the doorway watching in amusement, he should have known his apprentice would be in on the joke too.

“You got me.” Barnum sighed dramatically, giving them his ever charming lopsided grin. “Are we done? Folks you can let me down now.”

“Actually no, Barnum, we’re not done.” Lettie’s voice suddenly rang out from the ground. The bearded lady strolled confidently into the centre ring, folding her arms as she looked up at him.

P.T. frowned, holding the side of the ring with both hands to keep himself steady as he glanced directly down at her. Tone a little more serious. “Lettie, joke’s over now. Tell W.D to let the rope down. We have a show to do.”

“You remember Jenny Lind’s first show? How you hid everyone away and shut them out?” Phillip called up to him, the younger’s voice echoing around the empty stadium a little as he pushed forward and made his way into the bleachers to sit down. 

Barnum winced, of course he remembered. It had been well over a year ago now, yet he still felt a twinge of sick guilt in his stomach when he thought about it. He’d been so greedy for the attention of the snooty, rotten upper class that he’d started acting like them. “I thought we’d moved past that? It was a long time ago.” He called down carefully, a blanket of worry starting to lay on his back.

“’Course we’ve moved on. Doesn’t mean we forgive you though. I don’t think you ever even apologised for the way you treated us that night.” It was Lettie’s turn to call back up again. This time she turned to W.D. and clicked her fingers “Alright let him down.”

Phin’s shoulders relaxed in relief for a very brief moment before suddenly W.D. let go of the rope and the hoop dropped sharply. The ringleaders cry of momentary terror rung throughout the tent but stopped suddenly when the acrobat caught the rope again and slowly hoisted him back up to his full height, all the while trying to repress a delighted grin.

Laughter filled the space again and Phineas found himself gripping the sides of the hoop so hard his knuckles were turning white. “If this is a joke it’s not funny anymore. Let me down now or you’re all on animal clean up duty for a month.” He called back down, the slight unconscious waiver in his voice only making them laugh more.

“It’s no joke, P.T.” Phillip called up, speaking loudly so the man could hear him over the sounds of laughter. “The guys came up with this as a way to show you how you made them feel. We’re keeping you up there all day, until the end of the show this afternoon. This way you’ll get to experience the isolation and ridicule you put Anne and Lettie and everyone else in this room through.”

“You can’t keep me up here for seven hours! I have work to do! What am I supposed to do up here all day?!” He called back down, the fact he was getting very close to blowing his lid was getting evident in the ringleader’s tone with every word.

“Phillip is going to run the show today. You can use your time up there to think about your actions and how they affect people. Maybe when we let you down, we’ll all be even.” Anne called up to him, gesturing to her brother to tie off the ropes. “Then again, maybe not. We’ll see how we feel.”

“You can’t be serious? Anne! W.D. let me down! Phil, make him put me down!”

“Sorry P.T.” Phillip called up. 

Barnum didn’t miss the smirk on his young apprentice’s face as the man strolled over to Anne and her brother, leading them both out into the main tent.

P.T. turned a slightly tense glance to Lettie bellow him. “Lettie? Charles?? This is ridiculous. Help me get down.”

Lettie only offered him a polite shrug, grinning as she proudly followed the others out of the tent flaps.

“Eye for an eye, Barnum.” Charles called up cheerfully, grabbing another rope and giving it a sudden harsh tug, to P.T.’s horror making the hoop start spinning an ridiculous speeds. He noticed the man wandering off with the others and leaving him alone as he was left spinning in the air.

“FOLKS? ….HEY….SERIOUSLY…. COME BACK. YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME HERE! COME BACK!”

\--

11:32 am

Eventually, to the showman’s relief, the hoop did slow down and stop spinning. He’d hunched over as best he could without letting go of the sides of the metal ring a few times in case he was sick, but fortunately managed to keep his breakfast down.

Now things were now beginning to get boring, Phin wasn’t used to sitting still for so long. While he’d never describe himself as having any kind of aversion to heights, the 50ft drop would almost certainly kill him and that fact kept him plastered in one place. The last time he’d been stuck in his seat at work was back when he worked for the shipping company and that was a job he hated. Phineas never had been the kind of person who could be still for eight hours a day. It was one of the reasons why the circus was a blessing.

“Hello? Anyone around? Can I come down yet? I’ve learned my lesson.” He called down tiredly. His rear was starting to ache from perching on the thin metal hoop and his feet were getting numb. The ringleader was well and truly fed up.

“Phin?”

He almost missed the quiet angelic voice drifting up from the ground, catching it as his eyes darted around to catch a glimpse of the woman wandering in through the tent flap.

“CHARITY! UP HERE!”

“Phin??” She called out again, in surprise more than confusion this time. The woman let out a sweet chuckle as she wandered into the ring to look up at him, shaking her head just a little in disbelief.

“Phin, what are you doing up there?” 

The man sighed in relief, grinning ear to ear. God he was so glad to see his wife, to hear her beautiful laugh. She’d sort this out.

“The others played a joke on me and got me stuck up here. Ya mind helping me down?” He called back sweetly, bending as much as he could to keep his eyes on her as she stood below him. “I’ve been up here for hours.”

“Oh, sure! Is it this rope over here?” She shouted up, wandering over to gesture to the rope. 

“That’s the one! Untie it carefully, if you let it go I’ll fall.”

“I can’t believe they trapped you up there! All by yourself, and left you alone, running off to go and do their own thing and leaving you helpless.” She called, hands moving to the rope.

Phineas’ grin waivered slightly at her strange choice of wording, it fell completely when he suddenly heard her start chuckling and watched the woman’s delicate hands move back away from the rope.

“Chariy??”

“Phillip told me all about the Circus’s plan. I think it’s a wonderful idea. Maybe you’ll finally get it through your head that when you hurt other people, you hurt yourself too, Phin.” She called up through a smile, crossing her arms and leaning against the tent pole to watch him, satisfied by his horrified look.

“Not you too! C’mon this is ridiculous! Let me down!” He almost shouted, rocking the hoop slightly as he tried to lean forward a little further. “What am I supposed to do up here? What happens when I need to eat? How do I do the show while I’m stuck up here?!”

“Sure is terrible when people make spontaneous decisions and don’t think about how they’ll affect other people, isn’t it?” The woman replied, smiling at him sweetly before turning on her heal and wandering back towards the tent flap. “You’ll be fine, Phin. It’s only seven hours”.

“ONLY seven hours?!!”

“I need to get back to the girls, I left them with Lettie and I don’t want them wearing her out before rehearsals.” She called back as she disappeared out of the tent.

Phineas groaned, if he could have moved his hands he would have put his head in them in exhaustion.

How could his own wife just abandon him like this, just leave him and run off to do something else? He needed her and she just left, she wouldn’t even hear him out. How could anyone to that to their own-

…Oh.

Suddenly it clicked. Maybe he did deserve to be up there after all.

\--

1:15pm

Barnum was starting to wonder if today would ever end, the tent felt too quiet and the only distraction he got from the boredom was the occasional sound leaking through of the rehearsals next door. It all sounded pretty positive so far, lots of laughing and cheering. He wished he could see it.

At the same time, it made him wonder whether or not they really needed him anymore. The circus had Phillip now of course, a much younger man who could move a little faster than himself and already knew all of the acts routines and could sing the opening perfectly. If the show was running smoothly without him around, maybe it would always run smoothly without him around. Maybe they didn’t need him. Maybe they preferred Phillip anyway.

Phineas frowned as he swung slightly in the hoop, swinging his legs to keep the motion. He hated to admit it but it made his chest feel tight thinking about his circus family putting him to one side for someone else. As much as he appreciated Phillip, the realization that the other man might be better than him flared up jealousy in his gut. The circus acts were his colleagues, his friends. Granted, he hadn’t always treated them right, but he loved them and was trying to be better. He didn’t want them to not need him, the man had spent most of his boyhood feeling unneeded and unwanted by the world, the idea of being alone again scared him more than he was ready to admit.

Surely the circus wouldn’t shove him to one side just to run off with someone they considered better than him. He got them where they were today! He- oh.

Oh.

The ringleader wished he was on the ground so he could have planted his head against a wall for a while. Of course, this is exactly what he’d done to them when he had run off with Jenny Lind. The second he’d found someone better he had pushed them to one side. The circus acts were the people that believed in him and supported him, that made the circus work, that lifted them all out of the dirt and into the skies. Then the moment he touched the clouds he had left them. 

He’d made them feel like this. Unwanted, unneeded, worthless.

“Hey, how you holding up?” 

The sudden voice that broke the silence snapped the ringleader out of his thoughts and his eyes shot down and settled on Phillip. He hadn’t even noticed the man enter.

“My arms and legs are numb and the height is starting to get to me a bit. I think the ground is moving.” He called back down weakly, squinting his eyes shut for a moment as he tried to focus on the fuzzy blob of a man so far below him. “It’s been hours, can we please just call it a day? I understand now. I wronged everyone, I wronged you, I wronged my wife, I wronged the circus and all of our friends. I get it and I’m sorry.”

“Glad you’re understanding it now.” He younger man called up, “I’m not letting you down though. The circus decided on a full day and I’m not gonna argue with their judgement. I did bring you some lunch though.”

PT sighed, hunching over to put his head on his knees exhaustedly. 

“Cheer up, P.T. You’re almost halfway through.” Phillip joked gently. Taking a bottle of water and some sandwiches wrapped in a piece of cloth from his bag and tying them securely with rope, carefully hoisting them up on one of the other rigs.

When the offering was high enough in the air, the showman sat back up and carefully let go of the ring with one hand to take it. “How’s the show going?” He asked wearily, setting the food and water precariously in his lap and struggling to unwrap the sandwiches one handed.

“Great so far! Anne and WD are trying out a new trick on the trapeze and it’s amazing, you’re gonna love it when you see it. Charles is getting better at getting onto the horse without help, he’s pretty delighted with himself. Your girls came along today and have been running around and joining in, it’s putting everyone in a great mood.”

“Good to know you’re all having a great time without me.” Phin muttered back, rolling his eyes slightly bitterly as he finally managed to unwrap the sandwiches and take a bite of one.

“Well we got on just fine without you when you ran off with-“

“I GET IT.”

“Okay, okay….geez. No need to shout, P.T.”

The ringleader downed half the bottle of water and finished eating. Awkwardly trying to one handed tie the cloth and half empty bottle back onto the rope, giving up quickly and just letting it drop instead. “Sorry. You’d be in a bad mood if you were stuck 50ft in the air all morning too.” He grumbled, kneading the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. 

“Anne does it just fine.” The younger man teased, grinning up at him and crossing his arms.

“Anne can move around in this thing.” The showman snarked back a little grumpily, voice holding a slight growl. “C’mon Phillip, you have to let me down from here. What about when I need to go to the bathroom?”

“Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

“Well not at the moment but-“

“Then I’m not letting you down P.T.” The man called up, looking very pleased with himself as he twisted on his heal and headed for the door. “You’ll just have to entertain yourself. Maybe you can learn to move around in it just like Anne. The circus could always use more trapeze artists.”

The man growled a low growl in response and narrowed his eyes, unamused. Without even looking back over Phillip seemed to feel his eyes burning holes in the back of his head and he chuckled, holding his hands up defensively as he wandered out. “Gee I wonder how it feels to be given a job you have no idea how to do and left to do it all alone.”

As he disappeared out of the door Phin rocked in the hoop in agitation. “C’MON PHILLIP I SAID I WAS SORRY.” He called over. “DON’T LEAVE ME HERE!”

The hoop slowly slowed it’s rocking and hung motionless again and the man groaned miserably. Fine, maybe Phillip had the right to be bitter for being convinced to leave behind his entire life to join the circus, and then being abandoned with it so that the man who hired him could run off with a singer. But surely this wasn’t the same thing! Surely….

Ugh. When he got down from here, he needed a strong drink.

\--

3:31

Phineas could no longer look down at the ground. He needed to get down now. It was too high up and every time his eyes drifted to the floor which looked miles away he felt lightheaded and tense. The showman had never been afraid of heights before, but five hours stuck up here was messing with his head. He just wanted to get down, he needed to touch the ground again he NEEDED to.

One handily the man managed to undo his suspenders and tie each of them to the metal hoop. He doubted the thin strips of elastic would hold his weight but he needed the tiny bit of reassurance. He felt so helpless just dangling precariously this far above the circus ring. One wrong movement and he’d fall to his death.

When his eyes suddenly picked up movement from below he couldn’t stop himself from looking down at the bearded lady beneath him, immediately regretting it and forcing his eyes shut. Too high. Too high.

“Lettie?” He called down, refusing to open his eyes to look at her. “Lettie please let me down, please. I’m sorry for everything, please just let me down. I can’t take it anymore I need to get down.” He expressed, slightly embarrassed at how desperate the words from his own mouth were sounding.

“Sorry Barnum. We just came to observe.” The woman called back up to him calmly.

We? He forced himself to crack open one eye, internally groaning as he spotted Charles and W.D hanging around the ring beneath him too.

“I’ll pay you to let me down? I’ll give you whatever you want.” He attempted weakly, forcing himself to offer them a slightly sweaty but still charming lopsided grin. Immediately shutting his eyes again afterwards to stop his head spinning.

“We don’t want your money. We want you to see things the way we do.” W.D. called up to him in his gentle yet booming voice. “You used us.”

“I didn’t use you folks, I offered you an opportunity!” The ringleader offered exhaustedly, guilt making his chest tight again.

“Yeah and then ran off with someone better the second you could, ditching us like a spoiled brat with broken toys.” Charles added on.

Suddenly Phin felt the hoop start spinning fast again and he couldn’t hold back a yelp as he clung to the cold metal sides. “STOP PULLING THAT ROPE I’M GOING TO FALL.”

“You won’t fall unless you let go.” W.D. responded calmly, wandering over to a rope opposite Charles and giving it a tug, slowly the hoop stopped spinning.

P.T. managed to relax his shoulders but only for a brief second before suddenly the acrobatic man gave the rope a harsher tug an sent the hoop spinning madly in the opposite direction. “S T O P”.

“What’s the matter, Barnum? Dizzy from the heights of fame? That’s the problem when you use people as a ladder to success then kick them away once you reach the top.” Lettie laughed dryly, “No way to get back down.”

“OKAY I get it I messed up I’m S O R R Y!” the ringleader shouted, voice prickling with panic. Charles gave the other rope a tug and sent him spinning in the opposite direction once again and the jolt almost bumped him into loosing his grip on the ring. He couldn’t see straight, he couldn’t even open his eyes and his heart was beating a hundred miles a minute. “I’M GOING TO BE SICK, STOP!”

“Isn’t much fun when the person with all the power in a place doesn’t listen to you, huh?” Charles laughed, jumping off the ground a little to give the rope a harsher tug. 

“Okay Charles knock it back a little, he looks like he’s actually going to throw-“

Lettie didn’t manage to finish her sentence before she watched the man in the spinning hoop suddenly hunch forward and loudly heave, not making it quite far enough and spitting up his lunch all down his smart shirt. She was pretty amazed he’d managed to keep hold of the sides of the hoop, though he looked like he might keel over any second.

“-up.” She mumbled, keeping her eyes on him for another moment before jogging over to tug the rope away from Charles, who immediately started laughing.

The hoop slowed down after a few moments and came to a hesitant stop, though Barnum’s head continued to spin for another few minutes. He gripped the side of the hoop so tight his knuckles were sore and his loss of control was starting to turn cold and uncomfortable against his clothes.

“You okay, boss?” W.D. called up carefully, sympathy in his loud voice as he tried to make himself heard over the sound of Lettie trying to shut Charles up as he cackled.

“I-uh-Ih….” The man managed out groggily, hunching forward again just in case it happened again. Thankfully he managed to keep it down this time and after a moment slumped back a little in the hoop. “…..need to get down. I n-….I n-eed to…….down now.”

Lettie looked up at him with pity and opened her mouth to speak, yet was suddenly cut off by the sound of Phillip.

“SHOW’S ON IN FIVE. WE’RE BRINGING IN THE AUDIENCE. CLEAR THE SET PLEASE.”

That snapped Phin’s attention and perked him right back up. “YOU HEARD HIM. GET ME DOWN, THE AUDIENCE IS ON THEIR WAY IN. I NEED TO GO GET CLEANED UP AND READY AND-“

“Still not getting you down.” Lettie called up, pity melting off her face and a smirk replacing it as she crossed her arms. “Can’t have a show without a shining star in the sky.”

The showman screwed up his face, shifting uncomfortably in his ruined clothes. “What are ya’ talking about? You can’t leave me up here! The audience doesn’t want to see me just dangling here!” He called down, anger boiling behind his voice. “They’ll laugh-“

“They’re gonna be laughing anyway, Barnum. Might as well get paid for it.” Charles called up to him, the grin on his face was so unbearably smug as he repeated P.T.’s own words that the showman almost wanted to throw himself out of the hoop.

“You CAN’T be serious. Folks I’ve had ENOUGH. Either you get me down from here right now or you’re all getting fired!” He snapped, voice cracking slightly in rage. “This has gone well beyond a joke! I’m tired and I’m bored and I’m sick, get me D O W N.”

His anger was rare enough to cause flinches from everybody in the room, then followed with a moment of silence.

Suddenly they were all wandering towards the door wordlessly.

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!”

“Sorry Barnum, we gotta get ready for the show. Guess if we’re getting fired, we’re under no obligation to help you out, since we don’t work here and all.” Charles called up, spinning on his heal to glare at the man before disappearing out after the others.

Once again the room was quiet. Phin almost wanted to cry.

\--

4:00 pm

Phineas had never felt so exposed. Sure, it was dark, but he was still hung in the middle of the ring, now surrounded by crowds of audience filling the bleachers. He was high up enough to not be the center of attention and yet a few people seemed to notice him and stare. How could they not? He was sweaty and had vomit all down himself and was perched awkwardly in a hoop made for a woman half his size. 

The showman’s whole body ached, his head spun and his feet prickled with pins and needles. Looking at the ground made his stomach clench in fear. Yet what hurt him the most was the guilt.

He understood now.

He’d made his fortune from taking vulnerable people and throwing them into the spotlight to be awed at. Sure, it had turned out okay, those people became family, they built power from their differences. The acts loved the circus, and Phineas loved all of the acts, yet he had treated them like dirt for far too long. He’d looked down on them, stepped on them, people he called his friends he’d put to one side in favour of the rich snobs and had treated them like they were lesser people. It was in the past, he was becoming a better person, but it still happened.

And Lettie was right. He had never said sorry for shutting them out at Jenny Lind’s first show. He’d never admitted his mistake or tried to amend for it.

He felt humiliated, abandoned and hurt being stuck up here, but probably not half as humiliated, abandoned and hurt as he’d made his friends feel.

As the music started and the lights crashed on, the showman winced and shrunk in on himself as best he could to try to avoid drawing attention to himself. At least he could watch the show, he’d not yet had the chance to watch his young apprentice run the scene by himself. When the younger man ran in, all kitted out in that glorious red coat, Phin couldn’t help but feel a pang of pride.

Even if the circus did choose Phillip over him….at least they were in good hands. He was a good kid.

\--

4:58 pm

Barnum slumped in the hoop exhaustedly, relief settling over him as the last notes of the last song of the afternoon played and faded out. Confetti was raining down and sticking to his clothes, he could see the out of breath and delighted performers taking their bows. He knew soon they’d HAVE to let him down. It was almost over. Thank goodness it was almost over, if he wasn’t afraid of heights before, this was a sure fire way to develop that fear.

“AAAND FOR OUR LAST PIECE OF ENTERTAINMENT FOR TONIGHT, WE’LL NEED SOME AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION!” 

The showman squinted in confusion. Audience participation? What was the last act?

Suddenly he felt the hoop start to lower and panic set over the man.

“Now at the beginning of the show, everyone should have been given an object. So for our last piece of entertainment tonight, we have an exciting game of PELT THE CLOWN.”

Phin watched in horror as people in the audience picked up what looked like tomatoes and eggs and all sorts of other pieces of produce. Suddenly the realisation hit him, which was soon followed by a rotten apple which pelted him directly in the face.

There was an uproar of excitement and laughter as the folks in the bleachers started standing and hurling things towards him as hard as possible.

The ringleader was smacked in the side of the head with an egg and several tomatoes whacked his back, spraying sludge all down his already ruined clothes. He let out a small cry of horror as something wet hit him in the face.

Then suddenly something heavy hit his back a little too hard and the hoop slid out from under him, slippery hands coming away from the metal. He let out a scream and the audience went silent.

He didn’t fall. Instead, elasticated suspenders caught him and he let out slightly higher pitched yelp. The man was suddenly very glad he had no plans to have any more children.

The audience’s uproar of laughter filled the room and the pelting of rotten fruit started again. Phineas forced his eyes shut and wished for a swift death.

\--

5:18

Finally the tent was empty once more, other than for a few of the acts cleaning up the stands and sweeping up rotten fruit from the sawdust.

Phillip stared up at his mentor as he hung motionless, dripping with all kinds of gunk, head lowered in exhausted defeat. He crossed his arms and seemed satisfied with himself as he waved over at W.D. to finally lower the man back to the ground.

Phin was too tired to even reach for the metal ring to pull himself back into it as it started moving, letting himself hang embaressingly by his suspenders as he slowly lowered to the ground. Once he was a few yards away from the sawdust floor he let out a small sigh and unclipped the elastic, thankfully landing on his feet….which promptly gave out from being so numb and left him crumbling into a heap on the floor.

“P.T.?”

The man didn’t answer, instead he focused his hazy eyes on the ground, gripping the sawdust tight in shaky hands. It took him a few moments to remember how to breath and he clenched his eyes shut weakly. “Where’s Chairy?”

“I’m here.” Came the hushed voice of the woman as she gathered up her skirt and hurried over from where she’d been perched by the door. “Phillip did NOT tell me people were going to throw fruit at you.” She mumbled accusingly, giving the younger man a bitter glare.

Phillip held his hands up defensively and had the decency to look sheepish. “…It was kind of a last minute decision. Sorry…we probably took it way too far.”

“You think?” She grumbled, rolling her eyes as she kneeled down next to her husband as if she knew exactly what he needed without words

Of course, she did. He moved himself off of the ground and crumbled into her, wrapping his strong arms around her and clinging to her skirt like it was some kind of comfort blanket. His face pressed into her hair and he finally breathed a sigh of relief, tension melting from his shoulders at last.

The woman rubbed his back in circles, not the least bit worried about her nice dress getting covered in the many fluids that coated his clothes. She leaned up to press a kiss against his cheek.

“Oh Phin, you’re shaking…”

“It’s just my muscles recovering from being still for so long.” The man finally spoke, voice in a gruff whisper yet managing to maintain the gentle humour he always sported.

He lifted his head a little, breathing out a long sigh and twisting his head slightly to look at his circus troops, each holding different emotional responses. Lettie looked apologetic and guilty, wringing her hands nervously, Charles looked beyond pleased with himself.

“I’m sorry….for everything. I really am.” He managed out in nothing more than a horse whisper, exhausted eyes drooping slightly. The honestly in his usual silver tongued voice was almost slightly haunting. “I’ll never let myself make the same mistakes. Not ever. I treated every person in this room wrongly, I promise from now on I will do everything in my power to become a better man.”

He leaned back into Charity exhaustedly and she helped him to his shaky feet, propping the dizzy man up on her arm.

“I deserved this. All of this.” He whispered, wobbling on his feet a little and almost crumbling if it wasn’t for his wife holding his weight. Phillip jogged over to take the man’s other arm.

“Well….we’re well and truly even now. I for one forgive you.” The young apprentice offered gently, helping the man stay steady on his feel.

“I forgive you too, Phin. I’ll always forgive you in the end.” Charily whispered to him gently.

There were some mumbled agreements from the other act, he even got a nod from Charles.

“Let’s get you home for some rest.” His wife hummed gently.

“Are you gonna be okay, Barnum?” Lettie called over gently a Charity and Phil started to direct the half conscious man towards the door.

P.T. stopped in his tracks for a moment, turning his head just slightly towards her.  
“A successful man is one covered in riches. A humbled man is one with tomatoes in his hair.” He replied softly, once again returning his line of vision forward and moving towards the door. 

“A humbled man is also a man beginning to plot his revenge, a man you should be very careful of from now on.”


End file.
